Former Express-News sports writer Broyles dies

Former San Antonio sportswriter Clifford Broyles took pride in his mission as a journalist.

By Jerry Briggs :
December 8, 2009

Former San Antonio sports writer Clifford Broyles took pride in his mission as a journalist.

When he hammered out a story in the press box on deadline, objectivity always ruled over his personal feelings about any particular team.

But the moment he stepped out of his professional life to enjoy time with his family, his true colors became evident.

On the day Broyles died - he passed away Tuesday at his home in Richland Hills at age 60, the victim of an apparent heart attack - his mother recalled his love for life, his family and for his alma mater, Texas A&M University.

Nell Broyles said in a telephone interview that her son would return to Palestine on holidays during his college years, toting records featuring the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band.

The music would sometimes be playing loudly on the family stereo in the company of Broyles' older brother, Reagan, then a student at the University of Texas, and four younger sisters.

Once, during a living-room musical as the Aggie War Hymn "was roaring out of the stereo," Nell Broyles said Reagan expressed concern that his brother was trying to influence the thinking of their four younger sisters.

"Momma," he told Nell Broyles, "Tippy (Clifford's family nickname) is brainwashing those girls.''

Family and friends say that Broyles, A&M class of 1971, was equally passionate about his chosen profession.

Broyles worked as a sports writer at newspapers in Palestine, Grand Prairie, Tyler and then for 26 years in San Antonio with the Express-News.

Health issues related to a lung disease forced him into retirement from the Express-News in 2000.

When he came to San Antonio in 1974, Broyles was "about 30 years ahead of his time" in his devotion to covering local news, a newspaper executive said.

"He would pick up the paper every single day and compare it to the Light (a competing daily), and if the Light had something local that we didn't, he would just blow a fuse,'' said Barry Robinson, a former Express-News sports editor.